Author: Antoni Ruiz, President of the Foundation La Selva Onyar until 2016 and current Board member of the Foundation Ramon Noguera.
Driven by a group of families and professionals, born in 1992, the Association for the Work Integration, which the following year created the Special Employment Center Project Onyar 30 jobs for people with intellectual disabilities .
During the following years, the company grew with new activities (gardening and maintenance of pubic areas, nursery, assembling bicycles ...) reaching 42 jobs for this group. In 2004 there was a merger with the first Special Employment Center RAFT3 Riudellots de la Selva, welcoming 30 new hires.
It is then born the Foundation Onyar La Selva resulting from the union of these two organizations focused on the employment of people with disabilities and / or mental disorders.
Since 2008 (with the strong impact of the crisis, reducing procurement and support for the creation and maintenance of jobs for people with disabilities), the Foundation launched a Onyar La Selva restructuring process of the Center for Work Fourth, replacing deficient activity as the native plant nursery and manipulated by others with greater added value.
During this process, the Foundation has expanded and consolidated its project labor, achieving a remarkable experience in different areas such as forest management and river, the industrial assemblies (bicycle wheels, electric mechanisms), and the production and marketing of organic food, consolidating about 80 jobs. In December 2016, finally comes true integration of the Forest Foundation Onyar in the group of social economy enterprises Foundation Ramon Noguera.
With this conversion, made basically own financial resources, the Foundation Onyar La Selva has a double objective: to maintain the jobs of those employed in sheltered workshops, and create a production structure in an expanding sector and is 'organic food, making learning technical processes and quality systems very demanding and essential to launch their own products of high quality.
Collaboration during the last four years with the Foundation Mas Xirgu and Ramon Noguera Foundation Group from the joint venture of gardening and maintenance of public spaces of the city of Girona, and complementarity of the food production the Foundation Onyar La Selva activity cooking and catering Foundation Mas Xirgu gave us both sides the confidence and strength to assess the benefits for our group could mean the merger of the two projects. Says Minutes of the Board of 11 November 2015 "(...) is the necessity and advisability of the integration process of the two Foundations, on the understanding that to share, manage centers special work activities, and this integration can benefit both sides, offset shortcomings, strengthen common services and open more favorable prospects for maintaining jobs and activities of the respective centers. "
Moreover, through meetings and previous visits made to their respective centers, members of the Board of Trustees Onyar La Selva, we note the diversity and quality of services and programs Group FRN (Special Employment Center, occupational centers , residential centers, early care, leisure and sport, specialized services, family care, etc.), which was a decisive factor for the final integration, especially valuing the ability of workers of the Forest Foundation Onyar d ' access to such services and provide a more comprehensive and people welcomed throughout his life perspective (housing, leisure, services postlaborals, community integration, etc.).
After a year of collaboration, mutual transfer of information and knowledge at different levels, the merger became effective in December 2016 in a natural way and without altering the pace and organization of work of the organizations. During these months, have been confirming the added value it brings to both parties: the management structure is profitable and gains in efficiency (unification of the management and technical direction of sections, administration, cost centers and sales, quality , etc.) are shared and complementary services and activities (maintenance of facilities, kitchen and catering, gardening, psychosocial support units / USAP), facilitating the adaptation of people to a greater variety of jobs, improving the financial capacity to take on new projects, etc.
In addition, integration strengthens and consolidates a model of social enterprise solvent and competitive, improve their potential in terms of maintaining and creating jobs for people with disabilities and, above all, demonstrates and strengthens to society fidelity to our social project focusing on service group of disabled people above any individual interest or group. As stated in the last Act of the Board of Trustees Onyar La Selva, before integration: "... we have analyzed and evaluated the benefits it can bring the integration for users and workers in the CET, the greatest opportunities and capabilities intervention and growth of the various activities of the two centers, as well as improvements in efficiency and management capacity, and has strengthened mutual trust regarding compliance with the principles and objectives of social responsibility. The members of the Board expressed their conviction that this integration will reinforce and strengthen these principles and objectives, especially regarding the continuation and expansion of jobs of persons employed in the CET and access to all services of the Group FRN and, ultimately, to improve the quality of work and life of people with disabilities, which is the reason for the two organizations. "
Our best tool is the cooperation and solidarity. Although, formally, it is the integration of the Forest Foundation Onyar in Group FRN, the true story involves the union of efforts, experiences and resources of two social projects with extensive experience to best serve the collective people with disabilities and society. What is being done shows that an essential tool to achieve common goals and positive change reality is the cooperation and solidarity among people and social organizations.
Today, the integration of the two entities is a fact. The perfect operation of the centers and areas of joint work and enthusiasm and involvement of those responsible as well as all workers confirm their immediate benefits for both parties. From here, we thank our fellow Group Foundation Ramon Noguera shown the welcome and efficiency in managing the process of articulation of the two companies, the diversity of people, activities, problems and needs that entails.
Article published in the journal Annual Foundation Ramon Noguera 2017. Read more articles: JOURNAL FRN 2017
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